443: Chapter 443 Ellie's Visit, Amazed by the Research and Development Scene

Inside the assembly area, cold white lights spilled down, illuminating the entire platform. On the metal floor, human figures and the shadows of automated conveyor belts shifted and intertwined.

In the distance, the blue flame of a welding torch had just gone out before another cluster of sparks flared up. Crackling sounds mixed with shouted commands, echoing through the cavernous workshop.

Chen Wuwang stood before the main console, his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye focusing slightly as he locked onto the mecha that had just completed its third test flight.

It hovered steadily in the center of the testing zone, its diversion channels glowing with a faint blue light, as if its breathing had yet to steady.

He tapped his fingertips lightly on the console, one tap after another, slow and steady, as if he were counting something.

At that moment, the warning Formation emitted a very faint hum.

"East side gate, we have a visitor." The guard's voice came through the communication Formation, his tone cautious. "Identity verified, it's Aelia."

Chen Wuwang looked up, the corners of his mouth curling slightly. "Let her in."

Less than ten breaths after he spoke, the heavy doors of the assembly area slid open slowly.

A figure walked inside.

She wore a shimmering feathered robe, her wings folded behind her back, her steps light and steady.

But the moment she stepped into this space, her footsteps faltered for a second.

Everything before her eyes was different from any Artifact Refining Workshop she had ever seen.

There was no roaring furnace fire, no clinking of rune-engraving knives; instead, there were neatly arranged psionic assembly lines, autonomous welding arms, and floating scheduling light panels.

There were also technicians in uniform, holding data terminals and discussing parameters and protocols in low voices.

A mecha was being slowly moved out of the testing zone by a crane arm. The rune arrays on its casing were still slightly hot, and the psionic fluctuations were so stable they didn't seem like they were manually controlled.

Her gaze finally landed on the hovering mecha.

"Wow," she blurted out, her voice not loud, but carrying an unmistakable tremor of shock. "The Chen family's R&D scene... is so magnificent."

She didn't look at Chen Wuwang, but walked straight toward the mecha, circling it once and lightly brushing her fingertips over the sensor array on its back.

The touch was cold, but the psionic pulses flowing within were exceptionally clear.

"What are you developing?" she finally turned her head and looked at Chen Wuwang.

Chen Wuwang finally turned to greet her, his silver hair glinting coldly under the lights. The Insectoid claw marks on his right cheek became more pronounced as he smiled.

"A Psionic Navigation System," he said, his tone as flat as if he were mentioning how many bowls of rice he'd eaten today. "It allows the mecha to find its own way, adjust itself, and fight on its own."

Aelia raised an eyebrow. "Fight on its own?"

"It's not based on preset programs." Chen Wuwang raised his hand, gesturing toward a light screen in the distance that was playing the flight trajectory from earlier.

"It's about letting it learn to judge. If the wind pressure changes, it adjusts its own posture; if the signal is disrupted, it corrects itself; if an enemy ambushes, it reacts on its own."

Aelia stared at the light screen for two seconds before suddenly laughing. "Are you building a weapon, or are you building a brain?"

"What's the difference?" Chen Wuwang countered. "Humans use their brains to fight; why can't a mecha?"

Aelia didn't answer, but continued to walk around the mecha.

On her second lap, she looked even closer.

She noticed that the interfaces of the diversion channels used a modular design, requiring only three breaths to disassemble;

The heat dissipation structure of the energy core used a honeycomb arrangement, increasing efficiency by at least forty percent;

What made her pupils constrict the most was a programmable rune board embedded in the mecha's shoulder—that kind of technology was a top secret even within the Angel Race and had never leaked out.

"This isn't an improvement," she whispered, as if talking to herself. "This is a reconstruction."

She stopped in her tracks, stood still, and looked toward Chen Wuwang. "You aren't just building mechas; you're redefining the way of combat."

Chen Wuwang didn't reply, only nodding slightly.

He knew she understood.

No one in this workshop was 'refining artifacts'; they were 'producing'.

Every process had a standard, every parameter was recorded, and every adjustment had feedback.

This wasn't the stacking of individual cultivation common in the Cultivation World; it was an entire system operating.

"I've traveled through seventeen Star Domains," Aelia said suddenly. "I've seen the Yao Race's Blood-forged Battleforts, the Demon Race's Soul-core Mecha-puppets, the Celestial Court's Cloud-ship Fleets, and even the Cthulhu Remnants' Living Warships... but I've never seen anything like yours."

She paused, her eyes turning serious. "You've turned 'Dao' into 'processes'."

Chen Wuwang smiled. "No matter how high your Dao is, if you can't win, it's all for naught. No matter how crude a process is, if it can kill the enemy, it's a good thing."

Aelia shook her head. "You don't understand what you're doing at all. This isn't 'crude'; it's a subversion.

Traditional Artifact Refining relies on talent, on insights, and on millennial Legacies. But you? You rely on data, on collaboration, and on..."

She pointed to the scheduling light screen overhead. "On this?"

"On people," Chen Wuwang said. "On a group of people willing to work."

He pointed toward a group of technicians nearby. Three of them were arguing incessantly around a disassembled Navigation Core; one was gesturing with a wrench, another was drawing diagrams on a light panel, and the third was simply crouching on the floor typing code.

"The one with the wrench used to be a farmer," Chen Wuwang said. "The one writing code was selling talisman papers on the streets five years ago. And now? They can modify a mecha's brain."

Aelia fell silent.

She looked at those three, saw the focus on their faces, and looked at the tools and light panels in their hands. Suddenly, she felt a bit dazed.

This didn't seem like the Cultivation World.

This seemed like... another civilization.

"How many... how many people do you have doing this?" she asked.

"Three hundred and twenty-seven," Chen Wuwang answered crisply. "Not counting temporary support."

"Can they all understand these?" She pointed to the waveform diagrams on the light screen.

"Those who don't understand are learning," Chen Wuwang said. "Those who can't learn are reassigned. We're not short on people; we're short on people willing to get their hands dirty."

Aelia took a deep breath and suddenly laughed. "Do you know? If my father saw this, he would order this place to be blown up immediately."

"And you?" Chen Wuwang looked at her. "Are you here to blow it up, or to buy?"

Aelia blinked. "I haven't decided yet."

She approached the mecha again, this time standing close to its breastplate, looking up at the pair of deep blue optical eyepieces.

"Does it have a name?" she asked.

"Seventh Generation Prototype," Chen Wuwang said. "It hasn't been named yet."

"I think it should have a name," Aelia said softly. "It doesn't seem like a machine; it seems like... a warrior."

Chen Wuwang didn't speak, just watched her quietly.

She circled to the back of the mecha and suddenly noticed a detail—at the seam of the back armor, a line of tiny characters was engraved.

She leaned in to look.

"To live is to lose no more."

She read it aloud, her voice very light.

Chen Wuwang's eyes flickered slightly.

"Who carved this?" she asked.

"I don't know," he said. "Probably some technician. Newcomers join every day; no one cares about such small things."

Aelia straightened up and turned back to him. "You don't care?"

"I can't," Chen Wuwang said. "As long as they're willing to work, they can carve whatever they like."

Aelia was silent for a moment before suddenly saying, "I've seen the rise of many powers. Some rely on Bloodlines, some on secret arts, some on Heaven And Earth Treasures... but I've never seen one that relies on 'people'."

She paused, her voice lowering slightly. "Aren't you afraid of failure?"

"I am," Chen Wuwang said. "But we're even more afraid of waiting to die where we stand."

He raised his hand, pointing toward the distant furnaces. "See that red glow? That's the furnace core burning. Thirty years ago, the day I took over the Chen family, the entire territory was smoldering. And now? We're building brains that can fly."

Aelia followed his hand with her gaze.

In the distance, the dome of the furnace workshop emitted a dark red light, like a heartbeat from deep within the earth.

She suddenly felt that the star charts, trading terms, and meticulous profit analyses she had brought with her became... insignificant before this workshop.

"When... when do you plan to have the maiden flight?" she asked.

"Sixty-seven hours from now," Chen Wuwang said. "Not even a minute less."

Aelia nodded and didn't ask further.

She took one last look at the mecha, then at Chen Wuwang.

Then, she smiled.

"Chen Wuwang," she said, "I might... need to reconsider our cooperation."

Chen Wuwang also smiled. "I'll be waiting anytime."

Aelia said no more, just stood there, her wings trembling slightly, a lingering shock still visible in her eyes.

Chen Wuwang didn't move either.

The two of them just stood there, one looking at the mecha, the other looking at him.

In the workshop, the sound of welding torches continued, the light screens flickered, and people bustled about.

Everything was as usual.

Yet, it seemed as if everything had changed.